9 Video Game Titles Which Lied To You

4. Ape Escape

FFIV title
Sony

With its novel dual-analogue controls and superb simian humour, Sony's 1999 chimp-catcher Ape Escape was just about the only PlayStation platformer to come close to not just matching, but eclipsing Mario 64's quality (fight me, Spyro fans). It's just a pity the entire game's central conceit is big, fat lie.

Ape Escape. Sounds self-explanatory, right? A game in which a troop of apes, has in fact, escaped, and it's your job to (humanely) hunt them down. Except, despite the name, there is not one single ape in it. Those yellow-panted primates are anything but, as per the game's own plot, which specifies flea-bitten mastermind Specter as an "albino monkey" whose released a whole army of 'pipo' monkeys to accomplish his nefarious, probably banana related scheme.

So you're probably thinking, "Easy there, Dian Fossey: apes, monkeys, what's the difference?" Any primatologist will tell you: quite a lot when you're trying to catch one in a butterfly net.

Editorial Team
Editorial Team

Benjamin was born in 1987, and is still not dead. He variously enjoys classical music, old-school adventure games (they're not dead), and walks on the beach (albeit short - asthma, you know). He's currently trying to compile a comprehensive history of video game music, yet denies accusations that he purposefully targets niche audiences. He's often wrong about these things.